1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications and, in particular, to identifying vehicles that are operating without insurance.
2. Statement of the Problem
People driving vehicles on highways and other roadways without proper insurance has long been a problem in the United States and elsewhere. According to the Insurance Research Council, the estimated number of uninsured vehicles can reach 25% in some states. To compensate for those that operate vehicles without insurance, nearly all states have allowed insurance companies to offer Uninsured/Underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage. UM/UIM insurance provides coverage if an at-fault party either does not have insurance, or does not have enough insurance. The average insurance premium for UM/UIM insurance costs about $120 per commercial vehicle and $40 per personal vehicle annually. If uninsured vehicles were eliminated from the roads, UM/UIM insurance would no longer be needed. And, as the number of uninsured vehicles increases on the roads, the cost of UM/UIM insurance premiums will keep increasing.
To combat the use of uninsured vehicles, police officers ask for proof of insurance during routine stops. Also, the police officers may query a centralized database, such as a national Motor Insurance Database (MID), with a license plate number to check if a vehicle is insured or not. Unfortunately, this approach is labor-intensive and costly. Also, the police officers are only able to monitor a limited number of vehicles, and thus can only get a limited number of uninsured vehicles off of the road.